This One's for the Girls
by Cinammon
Summary: COMPLETE & Epilogue! The Girls of No. 12 Grimmauld Place finally release some tension. Molly, Tonks, Ginny, Luna, Hermione and... Narcissa Malfoy(?) the way you've never seen them before. One-shot, turned monster.
1. Part One

This idea came to me and demanded to be written. How could I possibly say no? Ideally it would have been out on Women's Day, but the idea wasn't even conceived until after the 8th of March. 

The inspiration came from a song by Martina McBride of the same title. The lyrics can be found at the end of the fic!

A friend of mine broke up with her fiancée the other day, and the rest of us immediately rushed to her aid. We abandoned everything to be there for our friend when she needed it. A slumber party, gallons of vodka and tons of chocolate later, we _all_ felt better! 

Girl Power may have been a brief part of popular culture a few years ago, but the other day I realised just how much more than that, it is.

Every woman is different, unique; talented and special in her own way. Despite the period cramps and the mood swings, the bikini waxing and the constant dieting to stay in shape, I'm glad to be a woman!

One last note: This story was written in it's entirety from around 11pm to 7am on a weekday! It was meant to be a simple one shot and instead turned into the monster it now is. Please forgive any and all mistakes!

**Disclaimer:** This story, is based on the characters and situations created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling, and was created simply for entertainment purposes and out of love for the art of storytelling. No infringement of rights was ever intended and no money is made out of it.

**...ooOOoo...******

**This One's for the Girls**

**...ooOOoo...******

**Part One**

"I'm bored," complained Ginny as she let herself fall onto the covers of her bed.

"Have you done all your homework?" asked Hermione without taking her eyes away from the thick tome which lay open on her lap.

"Yes! Ages ago! How could I not 'Mione? You've been nagging me about it since we got here!" 

Hermione finally let her eyes wander over to her younger friend. Ginny lay on the bed, flame-coloured hair fanning out around her, her eyes trained towards the ceiling in frustration.

"Well, find something else to do," she tried to rationalise.

Ginny scowled.

"Like what? If I had something else to do, do you think I'd be here complaining?"

Hermione stayed quiet for a while. Then she sighed.

"I'm sorry Gin. I know what you mean," she said, finally closing her book, abandoning it and the comfortable armchair she had been lounging on. 

She walked towards the bed and Ginny's side. 

"None of us likes being cooped up here. It's getting on everyone's nerves, but there's nothing we can do about it."

She sat down defeatedly onto the covers next to Ginny. 

Ginny's eyes flickered back to her best friend. 

She hadn't expected that. She had expected Hermione to come up with some sort of reasonable argument defending Dumbledore's decision to have them stay there. After all, that's what Hermione had been doing the entire summer. 

She had listened when Harry, Ron or Ginny had ranted and raved about wanting to fight. She had listened and let them blow off steam, before calmly repeating the same thing every time.

They weren't ready. 

And they had to stay safe until they would be.

Ginny knew that Hermione, like herself, would have given anything to be out there fighting with the others. But people were counting on them to stay safe, and if that meant that they had to stay in this rickety, old house for the entire summer to do it, then that's what they'd have to do!

Hermione was so confident in her views, that she had convinced everyone else of it, too.

If anything, her forced inactivity had only made her study harder and push everyone else to study just as hard. It was clear that she felt that, to be the only way they had to prepare for a war they would undoubtedly all-too-soon be part of. 

But other than that, for the entire summer, Hermione had been for everyone, the shelter in the storm.

Tempers and arguments had flared between the members of the Order of the Phoenix that summer, due to the stress, frustration and pent up energy they all suffered from. Only Hermione's calm presence had prevented them from killing each other at times.

She had even been there to act as a buffer between her friends and Draco Malfoy who, along with his mother, had arrived at the house at the beginning of the summer seeking refuge from Lucius. They had never learnt the reason behind this change of heart, and they probably never would. 

Ginny frowned.

To say that Draco's arrival at the house was ill accepted was an understatement. It was due to _Hermione's _efforts that the boys managed, if not to like, then to at least tolerate, each other. Ginny doubted Hermione had gotten thanks from anyone for this.

But as Ginny looked up at her friend, she saw that Hermione was beginning to be affected by their predicament. Her eyes betrayed that she felt just as angry, useless and scared as the rest of them. Ginny noted with surprise the sheer amount of mental fatigue that seemed to radiate off the, usually calm and reserved, girl in waves. 

How could she have failed to see it? How could Hermione have kept it from them?

It seemed that Hermione had been there for everyone. She had been there for Harry all through his mourning of Sirius, she had been there to knock some sense into Ron when he needed it, to tell the twins off when everyone else had been too busy or too weary to do it... to maintain some semblance of normalcy.

Yes, Hermione had been nothing short of wonderful throughout the months they had spent at the dark and dreary manor. Their rock. But it had come to a great expense, Ginny realised. Hermione was exhausted. She had leant everyone her support, her strength of character, until she had nothing left for herself. 

Hermione's strength was abandoning her. 

Ginny drowned a feeling of panic that rose within her and threatened to smother her. She knew it was selfish, but Hermione _had _to stay strong! She _had_ to. For all of them.

"Hermione? Are you alright?"

Hermione's eyes shifted to look down at her red-headed friend. She hadn't paid any attention to Ginny's scrutinising gaze. She had been lost in her own thoughts.

"Yes, of course, Ginny. Just tired," she said with a small smile.

And with that she let herself sink fully onto the bed. She laid her head next to Ginny's. Red and cinnamon locks mingled on the bed covers.

The two girls stayed quiet for a while. And then...

"Mione...?"

"Mmm?"

"I think I know what we can do!" said Ginny excitedly, sitting up on the bed.

"What?" asked Hermione unenthusiastically, not bothering to move. In fact her eyes had never left the ceiling. 

Ginny frowned. This was worst than she had thought.

"We need a girls' night!" she announced.

Hermione finally deigned to turn and look at her friend.

Ginny waited for her reaction.

Hermione snorted.

"No, really!" continued Ginny. "My mum's always said that there's nothing like girl talk to raise a girl's spirits!"

Hermione forced a small smile.

"I'm sorry Gin. I'm just not much of a girly-girl."

"Aw, come on Hermione... It'll be fun! A slumber party! There'll be ice cream, chocolate, music, face masks..."

Her smile widened at her friend's enthusiasm, but it never reached her eyes.

"If you're trying to convince me, Gin, it's not exactly working…Besides; you, Luna and I already share a room, every night's a slumber party."

Ginny had to agree to that. Hermione was right, and it dimmed her enthusiasm. Them already sharing a room... It wouldn't be a proper slumber party; it would just be the three of them eating chocolate and ice cream in their room. Where was the fun in that?

"What if we invited everybody else too?"

Hermione grinned cheekily, discarding a little of the exhaustion that seemed to plague her.

"I can't exactly see Ron or Harry in face masks. Can you?"

Ginny grinned.

"Actually, now that you mention it..." she said mischievously before giving a small chuckle. "What about Neville? Or- or," Ginny barely managed, "Malfoy!"

The two girls shared a look and burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"A bright _green_ face mask! With cucumber slices over his eyes!" contributed Hermione warming up to the idea.

"And curlers in his hair!" added Ginny between giggles.

Hermione let out another peal of laughter at the vivid imagery her mind conjured up with those words.

It took a fair amount of time for both girls to stifle the last of their giggles. 

Ginny noticed that a small sparkle remained in her friend's eyes. It made her all the more determined to continue on with her plan. Hermione needed this. They all did.

"That's not what I meant!" Ginny finally said chastising.

"What, no face masks?" Hermione asked jokingly.

Ginny struggled to keep a straight face.

"Yes face masks, no boys. I meant a slumber party for all the _girls_ currently staying at Number 12 Grimmauld Place!"

That brought up Hermione short.

"What do you mean by _all_ the girls?"

"Well, not just me, you and Luna..."

"Luna, you and I," corrected Hermione automatically.

"Luna, you and I," continued Ginny grudgingly, "but _all_ the girls. Tonks for one. And my mother I suppose. Mrs Malfoy too, if she wants to come!"

Hermione looked at her incredulously.

"You want to invite Mrs Malfoy to a slumber party? With your mother?!"

"Well, why not?" she challenged. "We all need it. Every one of us! And it might even be a chance to learn a little more about each other."

Hermione considered Ginny's proposal for a while.

"Well..." she said wavering, "it'll be interesting if nothing else."

Ginny gave her one of her infamous radiant smiles. It worked every time!

"I must be mad, but ok," she finally said.

"Great! Lets get started!" 

Ginny jumped up dramatically off the bed and dragged her less willing friend behind her out of the room.

"Ginny! Where are we going?"  
  


"We've got arrangements to make for tonight!" 

  
On the top of the staircase, their way was blocked by the friendly faces of Harry, Ron and Neville.

"Out of our way boys, we've got work to do!" Ginny announced pushing them aside.

Hermione shrugged helplessly at them before she was yanked down the stairs by an impatient Ginny.

.

"Ginny slow down! Where are we going?"

"Kitchen," she answered. 

Hermione noted with amusement the determination in Ginny's eyes and she didn't dare argue as they made their way towards the kitchen.

"Mum?"

"Over here Ginny!" called Mrs Weasley who was, as suspected, in the kitchen clearing after lunch.

She took one look at her daughter's mischievous smile and frowned.

"What are you girls up to?"

"Not me Mrs Weasley," refuted Hermione in haste, anxious to remove herself from any future blame, but still retaining a small smile.

Mrs Weasley's eyes softened as they fell on the brunette with the sparkling eyes.

"Ginny has an idea," Hermione continued, pushing her friend forward.

Mrs Weasley's stare focused on her daughter. Ginny smiled.

"Mum..." she started sweetly, "what is it that you always tell me when I'm upset about something?"

Mrs Weasly hadn't expected this.

"There's nothing like girl talk to raise a girl's spirits?" she answered warily. "Is there something you want to tell me Ginny?"

"Did you have any plans for tonight, mum?"

If anything Mrs Weasley seemed even more confused.

"I was just planning to cook dinner like every other night..." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Virginia Weasley, what did you have in mind?"

Her daughter looked back.

"A girls' night in, mum. And you're invited! Every woman in this house is invited. I figured we need some time to ourselves. Everyone's been under so much pressure lately... we need to forget about everything for a while. Talk, laugh, get to know each other better... you know... a proper girls-only, slumber party! We could have it in our room. We'll transfigure a few sleeping bags, arrange some music... it'll be fun!"

Molly Weasley's face brightened up.

"Gin, that's an excellent idea!"

"I knew you'd be up for it!" she said triumphantly.

Ginny's enthusiasm was catchy and Hermione laughed out loud with pleasure seeing an identical expression mirrored on Molly Weasley's older features. Hermione was finally getting excited at Ginny's outrageous idea and Ginny noticed.

"I'll take care of the sleeping bags and the music," Hermione offered. 

"And mum, do you think you could arrange the food?" asked Ginny batting her eyes innocently at her mother. "Nothing fancy, just ice cream, about a ton of chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, if you can make them...?"

Her mother's face fell slightly.

"I'd love to Ginny, but I have to make dinner..." she said gently.

Ginny looked at Hermione with an unspoken challenge in her eyes. Hermione was never one to back down from a challenge...

"Mrs Weasley, forget dinner!" she said. "If the men want to eat dinner tonight, they have to make it themselves! We are spending the rest of the afternoon getting ready for tonight, and that's that! See you at seven o'clock in our room."

Mrs Weasley's eyebrows rose in surprise. Hermione the Rebel, was someone she had given up hope on ever seeing. Her grin widened.

"See you at seven, girls!" she said before turning her back to them. 

"Now where did I put the flour..." they heard her muttering as they left the kitchen.

.

He threw himself at her. 

She raised her right arm to block his blow and twisted, as sudden as lightning, to punch him viciously in the kidneys. He only just managed to dodge what would have probably been a very painful blow.

But he was quick to retaliate.

She ducked to the right to avoid a murderous punch then grabbed his extended arm in an iron grip. She used her attacker's momentum to propel both of them to the side and to throw him, head first, onto the wall on her left.

He twisted out of her grasp at the last possible moment to avoid the head-on collision. 

She twisted raising her right leg in a high kick in the process. The man she was facing, only just avoided her by stumbling backwards. Leaving him no room for rest, she twirled to bring up her other leg on a second high kick. This time however, he grabbed her raised leg in the air and held it there. Amusement coloured his features, a spark of anger coloured hers.

She was for all purposes standing on one leg, and that made for bad balance, something she didn't have much aptitude for to begin with.

Retaining his grip on her leg, he twisted to sweep her other leg from under her. She jumped to avoid him, but she was just a fraction too late. She ended up landing painfully on the floor even as he was straightening himself up.

A bare-chested Bill Weasley offered a gentlemanly hand to raise Nymphadora Tonks back on her feet. She took it with an unladylike groan.

They were both wearing only the minimal amount of clothing for their little workout, and sweat glistened off their bodies as they suddenly found themselves standing a little too close for comfort. They panted heavily from exertion as their eyes locked.

"I do hope we're not interrupting anything!" echoed a very amused voice in the large ballroom the two had been using as a training hall.

Bill and Tonks jumped back in surprise before they turned to face the source of that voice.

"Hey Gin, Hermione," Bill said. 

He was smiling, but his ears were still slightly red.

"Hey guys," offered Tonks before reaching for a couple of towels that had been carelessly abandoned on the floor. She threw one towel to Bill, who caught it deftly, before using the other one to wipe her face.

"Hey Tonks," started Ginny, amusement still written all over her face, "we have a proposition for you."

"More of an invitation really," added Hermione, on whose face mischief seemed strangely misplaced.

Tonks raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Got anything planned for tonight?" asked Ginny.

"Because if you do," continued Hermione, "cancel it! You have a slumber party to attend!"

"A slumber party?" interjected Bill. "Ooh, can I come?" he asked obviously eyeing Tonks up.

"No. It's girls-only," offered Ginny, cutting off her brother abruptly.

"What do you say, Tonks?" asked Hermione. "It'll be fun!"

Tonks grinned.

"Sounds great!"

"Our room? Seven o'clock?" continued Hermione.

Tonks nodded.

"We've got sleeping bags and chocolate!" announced Ginny happily.

"And I'll bring the drinks!" announced Tonks, a little too quickly.

Hermione eyed her dubiously.

"Err... Tonks, Mrs Weasley and Mrs Malfoy will be there too."

Tonk's eyes sparkled evilly.

"Even better! I'd love to see Narcissa drunk!"

Hemione looked positively scandalised, while Bill roared with laughter.

Ginny simply grinned before pulling a shocked Hermione away.

.

Hermione knocked on the door before entering.

"Come in," sounded Dumbledore's voice from behind the heavy door.

Ginny hesitated only slightly before pushing the door open.

Four heads rose from the multitude of maps they had been busy studying. Ginny swallowed nervously as she took in the faces of Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape and Remus Lupin along with the beautiful face of Narcissa Malfoy.

"Miss Granger, Miss Weasley, how can we help you?" asked the headmaster.

"Professor," spoke Hermione, "we were wondering... if we're not interrupting anything, may we have a word with Mrs Malfoy, please?"

Narcissa's eyes met those of Professor Snape before she picked up her skirts and walked calmly towards the two girls.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

Ginny seemed speechless for once, before the elegance and grace the older woman radiated. The invitation seemed to fall on Hermione's shoulders to make.

"Mrs Malfoy," she started, "Ginny and I were talking earlier and we-we had an idea. Everyone under this roof seems to have been under a lot of pressure lately, so we thought it'd be nice for us to err... relax a little, to have some err... fun, so we thought we'd have a girls-only slumber party tonight. We'd like you to come..."

Hermione waited for a while and was relieved to see that the woman in front of her hadn't in fact exploded with laughter at the absurdity of this suggestion. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw a small smile form on Narcissa's lips.

"It's just a little get together for us girls," continued Hermione with fresh courage. "Nothing fancy. We thought we'd do things like err..." here she faltered.

"Talk, listen to music?" supplied Narcissa with amusement.

"Err... yes," admitted Hermione.

"Perhaps some beauty treatments, painting our nails, doing our hair...?" she continued.

Hermione nodded mutely. Was the formidable Mrs Malfoy going to make fun of her after all?

"We've got ice cream and chocolate..." volunteered Ginny, "and mum's making chocolate chip cookies."

Narcissa's smile widened.

"I've never been to a slumber party before, but it sounds fun! It's a wonderful idea, girls. Thank you for inviting me. I'd love to come."

Hermione and Ginny smiled at each other in relief.

"Do I need to bring anything?"

"Just your pyjamas!" grinned Ginny.

"It's in our room. Starts at seven o'clock tonight," said Hermione, before the two of them vanished from the entrance of the room.

Narcissa Malfoy remained there for a while, a slight smile softening her frigid beauty.

"Narcissa?" asked the concerned voice of Severus Snape behind her. "What was all that about?"

Narcissa closed the door gently before turning to face the others.

"It seems I have just been invited to a slumber party," she said crisply, moving towards them once again.

Had Ginny and Hermione stayed a little longer they would have been graced with the devastatingly shocked faces of Severus Snape and Remus Lupin. The men's jaws seemed to have suddenly come undone, and their mouths hung wide open. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled more than they had for a very long time.

"Gentlemen, shall we continue?" echoed Narcissa's smooth, velvety voice.

.

"Three down, one to go," commented Ginny.

"Luna shouldn't be too hard to convince."

"There she is! Luna!"

The blonde turned dreamily towards them. She smiled.

"Hello Ginny, Hermione."

"Hey!" said Ginny when they had reached her.

"Wow!" commented Hermione when she saw what Luna had been doing when they found her. "Did you do this?"

Hermione and Ginny saw Luna flush for the first time.

"It's nothing," she said closing her sketchpad. "I'm not that good..."

"No, Luna..." Hemione's eyes sparkled. She kneeled down next to the seated girl until they were on equal eye level, before looking at her solemnly. 

"May I?" she asked almost reverently, pointing with her eyes at the closed sketch pad.

Luna nodded.

Hermione took the sketch pad from Luna's unresisting grasp. Slowly she flipped the cover over.

Instantaneously Hermione's and Ginny's lips formed a silent 'o' of appreciation.

Before them lay a detailed and beautiful sketch of Hogwarts and its grounds. It was obvious to the two girls that the artist was very talented.

Hermione flipped over the next page.

A pencil sketch of Dumbledore in all his bearded glory greeted them. His eyes twinkled at them in amusement.

A picture of Harry and Ron playing chess. The painful concentration on Harry's face was evident. Ron grinned in triumph. In the picture, he already knew he had won the game.

The elegant form of Mrs Malfoy smiling up at the always solemn Severus Snape. Their eyes betrayed nothing, yet the observer would note that there was the hint of something unspoken in both of them. Some inner strength, perhaps, that the artist had captured with her light strokes.

Hermione herself, feet dangling comfortably from the puffy armchair, biting her lip, in concentration and her customary fashion, as her eyes followed the minute text on the gigantic tome that lay on her lap. The fire cast a warm glow on her face. Calm, peaceful, eternal...

Draco. Arogant and cold and graceful. Scowling. Yet in his eyes seemed to be something deeper that held the viewer captive; that made the observer wonder, and want to know more about the pale boy in the picture.

Ginny. Eyes glowing with a roaring fire in their depths, hair standing on end... Breathtaking in her anger as she faced the shame-faced twins. 

The real Ginny blushed.

The next picture was of Molly Weasley presiding over a table which seemed to be filled to the brim with Weasleys, as well as other Order members. The sketch showed Molly in all her matriarchic glory. Motherly concern and pride was evident in her very stance, as she looked on fondly.

Harry Potter. 

She could have drawn the tragic hero the world saw. Or the orphan who had lost his parents and godfather before he even knew them. Instead, she seemed to have drawn something else entirely. The young man in the sketch seemed uncertain and determined at the same time. Guarded and vulnerable. Brave and courageous without meaning to, yet so much more than the reluctant hero many would have been tempted to portray. She had captured perfectly the transformation of the younger boy he had been, into the man he would become. The paradox that was Harry Potter.

Hermione flipped over the last page to see the sketch that Luna had been lovingly working on when the two of them had interrupted her.

Ron.

It was unfinished as yet, but still breathtaking in its simplicity.

Ron was grinning his trademark lopsided grin, sheepishly. His hair tousled, his cheeks flushed, his ears red. In his eyes shone fierce loyalty, honesty and a touch of pure mischief that was unmistakably Ron.

"Oh Luna!" said Hermione again.

The artist had known her subjects better than any of them had thought. She seemed to have such a deep understanding of all of them... Everybody always underestimated Loony Luna!

"I never even knew you could draw!" breathed Ginny in awe, looking at the portrait of her brother.

Luna shrugged half-heartedly still looking down. She hadn't dared look at the two girls as they had examined at her work.

"Luna," said Hermione lifting her blonde friend's face upwards so she would look her in the eyes, "you are a wonderful artist! These sketches..." despite her extensive vocabulary, Hermione Granger was at a loss for words. "They are beautiful," she finally said.

"You've captured more than just what we look like. You've captured who we are. Luna... whatever you decide to do in life... don't ever give up drawing!"

Luna finally looked up.

A small smile lit her face.

"You really think they're good?" she asked, almost afraid to believe it.

"Beautiful," said Ginny, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.

 The blonde girl's face lit up even more and flushed with pleasure all at once.

Hermione got up. Her knees were killing her. She had been kneeling for too long, but it had been worth it.

"Hey Luna, we had this idea..."

"_I_ had this idea," corrected Ginny.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"_Ginny_ had this idea..." she continued then stopped with a grin. "Just how good are you at organising slumber parties, Luna?"

Luna got up, a puzzled look on her face, her sketch book clutched tightly to her chest.

Ginny draped an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"We were thinking..."

.

Three ravenous boys waked into the kitchen following their noses.

Molly Weasley was humming contently.

"Mum? Are those chocolate chip cookies? What's the occasion?" asked Ron as he reached for one of his mother's fragrant, freshly-made, culinary wonders.

Molly slapped his hand away just in time and he was forced to withdraw his hand cookieless.

"They're not for you Ron," she said crisply, before using her wand to take another fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.

"Who are they for, Mrs Weasley?" asked Neville who was watching the cookies hungrily.

"The girls," she answered before continuing with her humming.

"The girls??" asked Ron offended, "Why can't _we_ have any?"

"They're for the slumber party."

"What slumber party?" asked Harry.

"Tonight's slumber party," answered Molly airily, as she took a full plate of cookies from under the boys' noses to the kitchen table. 

"Girls only," she added with a mischievous smile that Ron had never seen his mother wear. All of a sudden, he couldn't help wondering were the twins _did_ get their... uniqueness... from, anyway.

"Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Tonks, myself... I dare say even Narcissa's going!" she announced triumphantly.

"Narcissa Malfoy at a slumber party?" asked Harry, his eyes widening to the size of diner plates.

"Uh-huh," confirmed Mrs Weasley.

His growling stomach, forced Ron to focus on more urgent matters.

"What's for dinner mum?"

"How should I know Ronald?" asked Molly completely unfazed. "I haven't cooked today."

"You what?" asked a shocked Ron, "But... but... we're hungry! What are we going to eat?"

"Why don't you ask Professor Dumbledore, darling. He offered to cook tonight."

"Dumbledore offered to cook?" asked Neville in disbelief.

Harry blanched as he wondered if Dumbledore had ever cooked before.

Ron was appalled. More than that. He was flabbergasted!

"Hey mum, are you ready?" asked Ginny from the door.

"Everything's ready!" said Molly more cheerful than anyone had ever heard her in a long time. "I just need some help getting the food upstairs."

"We'll help you Mrs W," announced Tonks. Her fuchsia hair matched perfectly with the bubblegum in her mouth.

As if to demonstrate this fact, she blew a pink bubble on her way to the cookie trays. On her way back - while her hands were occupied with two large tubs of ice cream, chocolate syrup and more packets of chocolate than the boys ever thought she could carry - she passed Hermione who was only just entering the kitchen to hep. Hermione grinned and, in complete un-Hermione-like fashion, popped Tonk's bubble. 

"Hey!" Tonks yelled in mock indignation, going cross-eyed to look at her bubblegum-covered nose.

And Hermione... she actually _giggled_! All watching eyes blinked.

As Hermione turned to exit the kitchen, a cookie tray in each hand, she found her path blocked by a very familiar, blond ferret.

"I heard all about... your plans for this evening. I must confess Granger, I honestly thought you of all people had more sense than that!" drawled Draco Malfoy.

Instead of using her extensive vocabulary and caustic wit in retaliation, Hermione merely stuck her tongue out at him. Narcissa Malfoy, who had been watching the exchange from the living room laughed out loud at her son's shocked expression.

Ginny Weasley, who had been enjoying a privileged view of everyone and everything from her position on the staircase, allowed herself a congratulatory smile for a job well done. 

.

**A/N:** The second and concluding part of this fic featuring the actual slumber party will be posted on Monday. It's already written and just needs a few final touches before it's completely ready. Might I suggest that you download Martina McBride's wonderful song _This One's for the Girls _until then?


	2. Part Two

**A/N: **Hello everyone, 

Thanks go out to:

**Smalldiver****:** Something tells me you'll get your wish...

**The Brainless Wonderr:** Dumbledore over a cooking stove... I know what you mean, the mental images alone were enough to have me in a laughing fit! And I wish I could have gone to the slumber party too!

**Phoenix****:** Hope this will satisfy!

**Crystalwolf06:** Glad you liked it.

And last but by no means least, **Jabba1:** I'm rather partial to the Malfoys and the idea of Narcissa at a slumber party... it was too good to resist!

Thank you for your lovely reviews you wonderful people, you! I really enjoyed writing this fic and I'm glad someone's enjoying reading it!

As promised, right on schedule and without further ado, here's the second and concluding part of this story.

Enjoy!

**...ooOOoo...******

**This One's for the Girls**

**...ooOOoo...******

**Part Two**

Another burst of laughter escaped from the girls' bedroom and echoed in the empty corridor.

"Honestly," complained Ronald Weasley just as his stomach growled for the umpteenth time, "what in Merlin's name can they be doing in there!"

Harry shrugged while Neville simply looked miserable. Harry didn't think that Dumbledore's omelette had agreed with him... 

Actually, Harry didn't think that Dumbledore's omelette agreed with anyone! 

Harry had offered to do the cooking. 

_Bill_ had offered to do the cooking. 

Heck, even _Snape_ had offered to do the cooking!

But Dumbledore politely refused each and every offer of help. He wanted to do the cooking all by himself, he said. Harry had felt partly safe with the choice of meal attempted. After all, how bad can an omelette be? But, boy was he ever wrong! 

They had all shared a single large omelette between them, seeing as Number 12 Grimmauld Place had been pleasantly, and unusually, quiet that evening. But after today, Harry was certain that Dumbledore considered the four basic food groups to be sugar, starch, grease and burnt crunchy bits. 

How did he manage to come up with that conclusion, you ask? Well, how else was Harry going to explain why his, otherwise illustrious, Professor had managed to combine all that in a single omelette?

They'd realised only too late, that Dumbledore had mistaken the sugar for the salt. The pieces of greasy bread stuck randomly in the omelette, hadn't helped much either.

"They're probably having chocolate chip cookies as we speak!" said a miserable Ron as yet another bout of laughter made it past their room's open door.

"Psst!"

Four pairs of eyes turned simultaneously towards the door. They focused immediately on Bill Weasley. Bill slid quietly into the room.

"Emergency rations," he said, before emptying his pockets on Harry's bed.

The boys stared hungrily at the small pile of chocolate frogs and sugar quills before hungrily diving for them _en masse_.

"I see I'm not the only one with a similar idea," drawled a voice that, all five of the room's occupants, could have recognised anywhere.

Severus Snape, smirking, stood in the doorway.

"I found this, in one of the kitchen cupboards. I believe they are called canary creams."

And with that, he deposited a whole box of what were most certainly canary creams on the bed next to the chocolate frogs.

Ron looked at them rather dubiously.

"Mum must have confiscated them from the twins."

"Who cares?" asked Draco as he reached for one.

Harry had seen Draco in a slightly different light since he had come to this house and for that, he felt compelled to warn him.

"Wait, Malfoy..." he said resting a hand on Draco's arm, "do you know what these do?"

Draco sneered, but a hint of pure amusement glinted clearly in his usually cold, grey eyes.

"Yeah, I've seen them around school. Look, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I don't particularly care right now," and with that, he shoved the canary cream in his mouth.

The others were quick to follow his example, and in a while, all that could be heard from the boys' bedroom, was the squawking of several, oversized canaries. 

One of them, the one who had previously been Bill Weasley, clumsily extended his left wing towards the only occupant of the room who had retained his human form: Severus Snape. Amidst the yellow feathers lay a canary cream. Snape hesitated briefly, but he took the proffered canary cream and soon, he too had suffered the inevitable transformation.

This of course did not last long.

Most of them were still seated on Harry's bed where the 'emergency rations' had been deposited. Snape still stood leaning against the door frame. No one spoke, but silence did not reign. More laughter and music could be heard from the room down the corridor.

"What do you think they're doing in there?" asked Neville.

"Eating chocolate chip cookies," Ron mumbled.

"And having pillow fights," added Draco smugly.

"Pillow fights?" Harry seemed sceptical.

"Everyone knows that girls always have pillow fights at slumber parties!"

Snape's sneer widened at his protégé's ignorance.

"What, as in jump-up-and-down-on-the-beds pillow fights?" asked Harry.

A glazed look came over Bill's eyes.

"Mmm, jumping up and down on the beds in skimpy little nightgowns..." he mused.

Three young men and a professor seemed a little flushed at that comment, but everyone in the room glared at Bill.

"What?!" he said cheerfully, "I was thinking of Tonks!"

"You like Tonks?" asked Neville wide-eyed.

"She's... ok," admitted a red-eared Bill.

Ron rolled his eyes at Bill behind his back. Harry chuckled for a while before letting a frown cross his features.

"But surely they can't be having pillow fights all the time! It must get a bit boring after a while!"

"They eat too, remember?" 

This comment came from Ron of course, who was clutching his still-growling stomach.

"Ok, so they eat and have pillow fights, but they must do something other than that, right?" insisted Harry.

"Girls talk about hair and make-up and clothes... Things like that," Bill informed them.

The boys looked at him dubiously.

Draco frowned. Surely Granger didn't like talking about those kinds of things! She was much too clever for that! And besides, she had never seemed to care about hair or make-up or clothes much... She didn't really have to, said a traitorous voice in his mind.

He thought back to that very first time he had seen her for who she really was. 

She was defending _him_, of all people, to her friends. It had been a few days after he and his mother had got there. She had bravely stood before Harry, Ron and Neville, one small girl against three angry, large boys. She had stood her ground and she had won. _On his behalf_. They hadn't seen him, but he couldn't help but look at the girl in awe and wonderment, while his stomach did flip-flops.

It had made him realise why he had enjoyed insulting her at school so much. He perversely wanted her to get angry at him, to shatter her cool façade, to allow him to see the fire in her eyes as she took on his challenge. 

An angry Hermione took his breath away. If he was honest with himself, it always had.

She didn't need make-up or fashionable clothes. It sounded cliché, but her beauty came from within. The sincerity, the passion, the determination and sheer stubbornness that was purely her, left his senses reeling. She looked calm and cool on the outside, but Draco had had a taste of the flames that lurked just beneath the surface, and he was left begging for more.

When she had slapped him back in third year... It was all he could do not to grab her and punish her with searing kisses.

But her anger towards him wasn't the only time she had allowed him a peak beneath the surface of her calm persona. Since he had been here, he had seen her passionate nature whenever certain subjects had come up. 

House elves was one. He smiled thinking back to the lecture he had seen Order member Mundugus Fletcher receive, after an unfortunate remark concerning the pathetic creatures, had left his lips. Draco had heard all about the Blacks' house elf that had worked at the house until he betrayed his master and then taken is own life. He had never particularly sympathised with the creatures.

Literature was another subject she got riled up about, he had discovered to his delight. 

She had walked in on one of his and Professor Snape's literary discussions in the library one evening. Her eyes had lit up and she had joined them with gusto, quickly suppressing her surprise that it was _muggle_literature that they were discussing. Their antagonistic discussions of Shakespeare and other classics were Draco's favourite parts of an otherwise wasted summer.

"Maybe they talk about Quidditch," offered Harry.

"Come on Harry," said Bill, "I expected that kind of comment from my brother, not you!"

But Harry knew how passionate Ginny was about Quidditch. Her obsession with the sport almost rivalled her brother's. 

When Harry had been banned by Umbridge from playing Quidditch, who would have known what a worthy substitute Ginny would be? She had practised hard, not wanting to let the team down, but Harry knew it went beyond that.

Watching her fly, she had stopped being Ron's little sister in his mind. She became Ginny Weasley; one of the best fliers he had ever known and one of his best friends!

He had seen her flying on her own one evening in the twilight. She had landed when she spotted him and they had talked for a long time before heading back to the common room. She had told him that flying made her feel free.

Loyal, brave, stubborn, funny, Ginny Weasley...

He sighed. Why, oh why hadn't he noticed her when she had had that sweet, innocent crush on him years ago?!

Harry's face darkened. Maybe it was better this way. There was a war coming. She was enough of target for being a Weasley. Being involved with him would put her into even more danger and he would do anything to protect her! Even if it meant denying him a chance at his own happiness...

"Maybe they talk about art," suggested Ron.

The others snorted at his suggestion, but Ron wasn't so sure. Luna didn't seem the type to discuss make-up, hair and clothes. Ron hadn't told anyone about the sketchbook. Not even Harry.

He had found it one night in the, aptly named, drawing room. It had been the beginning of summer. Ron was greatly impressed by Luna at the Department of Mysteries. In his eyes, she had been as brave as any Gryffindor. 

He became curious about her.

An outcast among her own house, the whole school really, she didn't seem to let that bother her. She seemed to spend most of her time in a world other than their own. She had seemed almost ethereal to him, yet at the Department of Mysteries she had proved once and for all that she was made of sterner stuff than anyone had given her credit for.

And that is why, when he had found the sketch pad with her name on, he couldn't resist a peek inside hoping that maybe, just maybe, he would get a peek into the real Luna Lovegood. He hadn't realised what he was letting himself into...

The first sketch was of Hogwarts, and she had suffused it with all the love and pride she clearly felt for the school that had never accepted her for the wonderful girl she was.

The second sketch was of Dumbledore. Behind the twinkling eyes there lay a power that created awe in the observer. There was also a sense of serene acceptance and safety radiating from the portrait, and Ron realised that Luna felt safe around the old man. 

Part of him, he had to admit, was jealous. _He_ wanted the privilege to protect her, he realised. He wanted her to feel safe around him too.

The third sketch was of him and Harry playing chess. It had been unfinished when he first saw it, but in the few strokes that she had made, she had managed to capture not only the essence of the two boys, but also the very essence of their friendship.

He had made it a habit to look for the red sketch book in the drawing room daily, and he found that she often seemed to forget it there. Always at the same place, on the arm rest of what he assumed was her favourite chair. He sat at that same chair and looked at her sketches, looking out for new additions, watching the gradual development of each picture...

It was through her drawings that he had fallen in love with her, going as far as forgetting his silly infatuation with Hermione for her sake.

Ron smiled to himself.

Bill wasn't sure if Tonks would talk about clothes, hair and make up either. She didn't seem to care about any of it, but you never really knew with the little minx! 

They had gotten pretty close since he had given up his job as a curse breaker in Egypt, to devote himself solely to the Order a few months ago. Dumbledore had mentioned something about the DADA position at the school next year, but it had all been pretty vague. He had thought that working full-time for the Order at a time when Voldemort was clearly laying low, would bore him to tears, and he almost regretted it the moment he came back to cold and dreary Britain. He was easily bored and that had perhaps been the main reason he had loved his previous job so much. There was never a dull moment in a curse breaker's life!

But getting bored hadn't happened yet. And all thanks to Tonks... 

She had filled every moment of his life here, with her catching optimism, her love of life and adventure. She wasn't above laughing at herself and, in fact, her sense of humour often had him in stitches. She was simply the most fun-loving person he had ever known! 

And she never turned down a challenge! He had found that out soon enough, when she apparated half-way around the globe to bungee jump in Hawaii! She had then made _him_ do it, he remembered with a snort. It had been the beginning of a _very_ interesting summer...

In truth, he had found that there was only one thing to remember when dealing with Tonks: Expect the Unexpected. And in all honesty... he wouldn't have it any other way!

His mind drifted to their heated training session earlier today. He had held nothing back and neither had she. They had been so close that their breaths had mingled. Her eyes had seemed fixed on his own, and he could feel the heat radiating off her body in waves towards his. He would have kissed her right there and then, if Ginny and Hermione hadn't shown up at the precise inopportune moment.

"And boys," said the Professor's unusually hoarse voice. "Girls always talk about boys during slumber parties."

Narcissa. He had loved her. He had always loved her. But she had chosen Lucius. She had _loved_ Lucius. 

Snape did not allow himself the delusion that their match had been simply a marriage of convenience. It was that too, certainly, but there was a deep love and passion between those two, seemingly cold people, that few could guess at.

He had seen it with his own eyes. She loved Lucius, and he knew she always would.

Only because of Draco had she left him at all. 

When the young man had firmly told his father that he did not want to join Voldemort's ranks, Lucius had been furious! His son and he had always been close, and Lucius had thought that he moulded the boy into the perfect young death-eater. 

Only at school did Snape manage to cancel out some of Lucius' negative influence on the young man. Snape had earned Draco's confidence like no other teacher had ever managed to, and he used this to gently show Draco that perhaps some of his father's ideas may have been wrong after all. 

He used muggle literature to show that Lucius' ideas on muggles' incompetence were nothing more than a fable. He transferred his love of Shakespeare to the boy, and shook his perfect world to the core. He used Granger's obvious brilliance, without rubbing it in his face, to demonstrate that muggleborns could be jut as powerfully magical as purebloods. And he had shown him books on dark magic with horrifying pictures to imprint the horror of the dark arts to his young mind.

And he had done it all for her. Because despite Draco's superficial similarity to his father, he had been able to see his mother's son in him. And surely enough, when the time came, Narcissa defended her son's decision and left the Manor with him.

She would never love him the way he loved her, Snape knew. Her heart would forever be Lucius' and all Snape could have, was her friendship. But that was alright, because now that she had come over to their side, he could watch over her in the difficult times ahead. And that was enough.

He was illogically proud of her when she had stood in front of the portrait of Mrs Black with every right her lineage offered her. She had identified herself as a Black, and promptly told the old woman to stuff it! Everyone had held their breaths... and the old woman in the portrait, for the first time since anyone could remember, was quiet.

Her cool logic, intellect and cunning, would be invaluable to them during the war, but she was much, much more to him than that. These past couple of months, when Severus Snape could drink in the sight of her with his own eyes and hear her sweet voice with his own ears every day, were the simply-put happiest of his life.

The others seemed to be caught in their own musings.

_Boys_... his voice seemed to echo in the room. _Girls always talk about boys during slumber parties_...

It was Draco who made the first move racing down the corridor to stand in front of the girls' room. Ron jumped after him, closely followed by Bill and Harry.

"Guys?" asked Neville before following them.

When the room was good and empty, Severus surrendered to a very uncharacteristic chuckle. Young love...! He would never admit it to them, but he wished it for them with all his heart. It was too precious to waste.

.

"Look what I brought!" said Tonks proudly as she lifted bottle after bottle of alcoholic beverage from a box.

"Tonks, is that firewhiskey?" asked a scandalised Molly Weasley.

"And... vodka?" gasped Hermione.

"Te-qui-la?" read Luna off one of the labels.

"Tonks!"

"Calm down, Molly. I don't think it's such a bad idea," said Narcissa's cool voice. 

The wicked amusement in her eyes however, betrayed that she was very aware of the fuming redhead.

Narcissa took the hair brush from Hermione's hands to gently brush the brunette's hair, as if it was something she did everyday. Hermione was so surprised, she let her.

"You know darling," the formidable Mrs Malfoy offered with a smile at Hermione, "you have lovely hair!"

Hermione looked at her incredulously.

 "No really. It's so healthy and lively!"

"That's one way of putting it!" giggled Ginny.

"What do you think my hair would like if I left it natural?" Narcissa asked.

Hermione's eyes widened as she examined Narcissa's perfectly tame, golden tresses.

"You?"

Norcissa simply nodded.

"I could show you a certain charm that comes in very useful..."

"Narcissa!" fumed Molly, "Tonks brought alcohol!"

Narcissa's eyes finally focused on Molly.

"Well, the way I look at it Molly, everyone gets drunk at least once in their life. For the girls, it might just as well be now, when they're supervised by three responsible adults." Her eyes took in the grin on Tonks' face and she corrected herself. "..._Two_ responsible adults. What could possibly happen?"

Molly was wavering under the girls' pleading, eager faces. Even Hermione seemed for once to be willing to try the proffered alcohol.

"Mrs M's right Molly," added Tonks, "now's the right time for drinking if there ever was one!"

Molly sighed.

"We won't tell any of the others about this, okay?"

Ginny lunged at her mother in a bear hug.

"Let's get this party started!" called Tonks before passing around the bottles.

.

"They've got alcohol _and_ chocolate chip cookies??"

"Shut up Ron! I can't hear what's going on in there. Hey, Harry can you see anything?"

"OH, YEAH!"

Bill pushed him out of the way in a hurry, before bending down to the keyhole.

He visibly started at what saw. 

"What is it?" asked Draco anxiously. "What do you see?"

Bill's eyes left the keyhole and he glared at Harry before slapping him on the back of the head.

"That's my little sister, you prat!"

"The Weaslette?! You were spying on the Weaslette?"

The eyes of two red-heads and a red-faced Harry Potter glared at Draco, before what Bill said seemed to finally sink in Ron's mind.

He turned back wide-eyed to his best friend.

"_Ginny?_ You were spying on _Ginny?_"

Harry smiled sheepishly but he was rescued by another burst of laughter from the girls. The boys glued their ears back onto the wooden door.

"Guys, I don't think we should be doing this..." mumbled an anxious Neville, but the others ignored him.

"Care for a game of wizard's chess instead, Mr Longbottom?" enquired Snape who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "If I remember correctly, your father was quite the worthy opponent, even if he was a Gryffindor."

Neville hesitated. Who wouldn't? It was an unusual request from the last person he had expected to make it.

"I'm not going to wait forever Mr. Longbottom. Would you like to play a game or not?"

"I'm not very good Professor."

Snape sneered.

"I hadn't expected you to be, Longbottom."

He turned his back, but paused before walking away.

"Coming?"

Neville quietly followed Professor Snape away from the eavesdropping boys.

.

"Pass the vodka, would you Gin?" asked Luna's unmistakable voice. Some of it's dreaminess had left it and she sounded happy.

"Only if you stop hogging the ice cream!"

"Switch?"

Ginny passed the vodka before taking the tub of ice cream.

"Hey Tonks," asked Hermione, whose hair Narcissa was twisting into an elegant do, "what do you really look like?"

"Do you really want to see?" asked Tonks almost shyly.

"Yes!" thundered everyone's response.

.

"Out of my way," said Bill, before pushing Ron away from the keyhole.

Ron rolled his eyes again, and this time, it was Draco who had to stifle a laugh.

.

Tonks transformed into a young woman with high cheekbones, short black hair and sparkling blue eyes.

"You're very pretty dear," commended Molly. "Why do you hide your true face?"

"I don't _hide_ it... it just gets boring after a while. It's fun to be able to look completely different every day."

Ginny nodded.

"I wish I could do that... Maybe I'd finally get rid of all these freckles!"

"I think your freckles are cute Gin," offered Luna.

"You have a very sweet face Ginny," agreed Narcissa.

"But guys don't like sweet, Mrs Malfoy," she groaned. "They want beautiful, sexy, alluring..." she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Narcissa raised one of her's in amusement.

"And you don't think you are all that?"

Ginny blushed under Mrs Maloy's gaze.

.

'Damn right!' though Harry outside the door.

.

"Have you guys ever played _'Have you ever...?'_ "asked Tonks.

Several heads shook.

"It's a drinking game. Someone says, have you ever... bungee jumped in Hawaii, for example, and those of us who have, must down a shot!" she said drowning her own shot of fiery alcohol. "The only rule is that no one's allowed to lie. It's pretty easy and fun."

.

Bill's eyebrows rose in amusement.

Draco smiled with glee. 'Time to see if Hermione really is the goody-goody everyone thinks she is.'

.

An hour later the girls were still playing. Most of them were the better part of sloshed and the boys outside did all they could to stifle their increasingly frequent laughing fits.

"Have you ever..." slurred Molly, "drunk polyjuice potion?"

.

"Who drunk their shot?" asked Draco impatiently.

"Tonks and... Hermione?" commented Bill who was once again watching through the keyhole.

"Hermione?" screeched Draco unable to stop himself.

"Shh!" Ron covered Draco's mouth with his hand before he realised what he was doing. "You'll get us caught!"

"It's a long story," mumbled Harry.

"Have you ever..." said Tonks' voice, "gone commando?"

"What's that?" asked Narcissa, her voice definitely having lost its usual, clipped edge.

"Worn no underwear under your clothes."

.

Outside the door no one even dared breathe.

"Tonks..." offered Bill whose eyes were glued to the keyhole, "Hermione..."

'Hermione?' Draco grinned evilly. 'Well, well who would have thought? I knew there was more to little Miss Prefect than met the eye!'

"Luna..."

Ron blushed.

"And Ginny???" Bills eyes bulged.

"What??" whispered Ron.

Ginny's voice floated past the wooden door.

"... all my underwear were in the wash mum, honest!"

Harry's eyes seemed to be glazed over. Unfortunately Ron noticed and, irritated with his best friend, slapped him on the back of the head. It was the second time Harry had been hit by his friends that evening.

.

"What about the tequila?" asked Hermione. Her words were pretty slurred too. "We haven't touched the tequila yet!"

"We need salt and lemon to do it justice," said Tonks. "You guys stay here, I'll be right back."

The boys scattered, but the door knob was already twisting and it was all they could do to flatten themselves against the wall and hope that Tonks wouldn't see them. 

Strangely enough, and probably due to the copious amount of alcohol they knew she had consumed, Tonks didn't see them as she made her slightly unsteady way towards the kitchen.

"Gentlemen," said Bill Weasley grinning, running a hand through his long hair, "if you'll excuse me...?"

And with that, he made his way after her leaving behind three hormonal teenage boys worshipping the ground he walked on.

.

"Tonks seems to be taking a rather long time..." Narcissa finally said.

"The poor dear didn't seem too steady on her feet," giggled Molly.

"Who would have thought she would have done so many 'have you evers'! "Narcissa giggled back.

"I'll go look for her if you want," offered Hermione getting up on her own unsteady two feet.

 And with that she made her way out of the room.

.

Once again the boys flattened themselves against the wall. Hermione didn't seem to notice them as she made her way to the kitchen.

Two of the three turned back to the door the moment she was gone.

Draco seemed to hesitate.

"Err... guys, I need to erm... right. See you later!" he mumbled before slipping away.

"Malfoy?" said Harry turning.

Ron looked to see that their fellow co-conspirator was already gone.

"You don't think..."

"Hermione?"

"Nah..." they said in unison before turning back to the door and its keyhole.

.

"Mrs Weasley," said a slightly green Luna, "I don't feel so well..."

"Ah Luna, do you want me to take you to the bathroom dear?"

"I'll take her, mum," offered Ginny as she already helped Luna to her feet.

"You sure you can manage Ginny?"

"Yes, mum..."

It was after almost everyone had left, that Narcissa Malfoy turned to Molly Weasley.

"They all left," she said in drunken sorrow.

"It's alright 'Cissa," said Molly as she patted her awkwardly on her back. "I'm still here..."

Narcissa seemed slightly better at that pronouncement.

"And we've still got the firewhiskey," she continued.

An out of place goofy grin found it's way on Narcissa's features.

"We do, don't we?"

"Want a drink 'Cissa?"

Narcissa took the proffered bottle from Molly's hand before happily raising it to her lips.

.

"Ron, Harry, what are you two doing here?" asked Ginny when she spotted the two boys flat against the wall, hiding in the shadows.

"Ginny..."

Luna didn't sound good at all. She didn't particularly look good either. Ron was by her side in a second.

"Luna, what's wrong?" he asked, wrapping an arm protectively around her waist.

"I feel sick..."

"I'll take her, Gin," called Ron over his shoulder to his sister, as he guided Luna over to the bathroom.

Ginny hadn't had as much to drink as the others, but she was still a little tipsy. Had she been completely sober, she would have realised that she stood in front of her old crush in nothing but a rather long t-shirt. She would have blushed and dashed right back in her room. But as it was, Ginny simply giggled at a red faced Harry.

Harry took in her long legs, her dishevelled hair and sparkling eyes. He swallowed nervously. 

"Were you boys eavesdropping?" she asked with amusement. 

Had she been sober of course, she would have been absolutely livid.

"Err... no, of course not Gin. Ron and I just happened to be walking by."

Neither of them bothered to remind the other that it was approximately three o'clock in the morning and there couldn't possibly be any valid reasons for the two boys to just be 'walking by'.

.

Ron held back Luna's hair as she retched in the toilet. His hand made comforting circles on her back. 

"Alright?" he asked when she had finished.

She nodded and gave him a weak smile and Ron chuckled.

"Don't worry about it. You should've seen me and Harry when my brothers took us for our first real drink last Christmas."

As she looked into his warm, blue eyes, Luna was grateful. She moved to the sink and splashed some cold water on her flushed face before brushing her teeth thoroughly. Ron watched her in silence.

"Better now?" he asked when she was through.

"Much. Thank you Ron," she said in her soft voice.

Before Ron knew it, his hand had reached out of its own free will to brush a wet tendril of blonde hair out of her eyes and tuck it away behind her ear.

Luna's heart beat faster in her chest. She felt light-headed, and she wasn't quite sure that it was all due to the alcohol. She lowered her eyes to the ground, thus breaking eye contact, but she still felt the intensity of Ron's gaze on her face.

"We should go back," he said.

"Yes," agreed Luna.

Neither moved. Seconds ticked on by.

Finally Ron placed two fingers under Luna's chin and raised her eyes back to his own. Luna was surprised at how close he was.

"Ginny will be worried," he said, but there was regret in his voice.

Ron took Luna's hand and laced her fingers with his own.

"Come on," he said and led her out of the bathroom.

.

"You know Harry, you really are cute when you're embarrassed," said Ginny giggling softly.

"I'm not embarrassed," choked Harry, but his scarlet face betrayed otherwise.

Ginny walked slowly towards him; long, uncovered legs and all. Harry backed up until his back made sudden contact with the wall behind him.

"Why Harry! You're not scared of me are you?"

She giggled again. There was a mischievous smile on her face and an evil glint in her eyes as she came even closer.

"Of-of course not, Ginny," and in a way, he was telling the truth. It was her brothers that he was afraid of...

But as she came even closer, when he could see that the shadows the soft light of the corridor threw on her red hair made it seem almost crimson in places, when he could take in her sparkling eyes in all their glory, when he felt her warm, sweet breath on his face, he stopped thinking of anyone and everything, but her.

"I always wondered what it would be like to kiss you Harry," she said, before her lips covered his own.

.

"Tonks!" called Bill.

"Hiya Bill!" she grinned cheerfully.

Compared to all the other girls, Tonks hardly seemed tipsy, even if she _had_ drank more than any of them. Molly and Narcissa's observations of her being unsteady on her feet, had been over exaggerated. Bill knew that for a fact. The two of them had often gone to a bar for a few drinks – as friends only, of course – and he knew just how well she could hold her alcohol.

"What are you doing here, Bill?" she asked him suspiciously. "Wandering around dark corridors in the middle of the night, doesn't sound like you at all!"

"You girls," he said in a mock angry tone, "are making too much noise! How is anyone supposed to get some sleep around here?"

"Aww, poor baby..." she crooned. "Didn't wittle Billy get his beauty sleep?" she joked as she turned away from him to continue on her way to the kitchen.

His hand flew out to wrap itself around her upper arm. She turned back to him in surprise.

"What do you really look like Tonks?" he asked softly.

Tonks' eyebrows frowned in puzzlement.

"Why do you ask?"

"I want you to show me. Please show me Tonks..."

Tonks hesitated for a while before her features shifted, to change into the face Bill had seen through the keyhole earlier that evening. Her proud features left little doubt as to her Black lineage.

"Why did you want to see my real face she asked?"

"Because when I kiss you," he said breathlessly, "I want to kiss the real you..."

Tonks' breath seemed to catch in her throat as he leaned closer towards her. He stopped about a centimetre away from her lips.

"I'm going to kiss you now Tonks," he breathed against her lips, "it's your last chance to pull away."

In response, she lunged at him, finally covering that precious centimetre, stealing his breath away with a searing kiss.

.

"Oops!" said Hermione tripping over her own feet for the umpteenth time on her way to the kitchen. If only the world would just stop _moving_...!

Hermione found the thought hysterical and exploded in giggles. She lost her balance one last time before she ungracefully landed on her backside on the carpet. She laughed even more. She had laughed more tonight than she had all summer!

"Hermione!"

Hermione looked up to see a pair or concerned grey eyes. She frowned. Something wasn't right... Those eyes shouldn't be concerned...

But all coherent thought seemed to leave her mind as the face of Draco Malfoy seemed to descend from the heavens to look unto her own.

"Hermione are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?"

In a way, Draco was glad that she was drunk. When he had seen her stumble and fall, he had hurried to her side and let his true emotions show. Draco hoped that she would forget all this in the morning. He may have rejected his father's views on certain subjects, but, a Malfoy would always be a Malfoy, and Malfoys never let their true emotions show.

He reached a hand to help her to her feet, but she didn't react. She seemed almost mesmerised by him as she raised a hand to cup his face gently.

"Draco..." she said softly, and suddenly, Draco forgot to breathe. 

His name rolled off her tongue like a prayer. Draco felt as if it were _he_ that was drunk. He felt himself sinking ever deeper in the liquid depths of her warm, brown eyes. It took almost all the strength he had, but Draco tore his eyes away from hers.

"Can you stand? You haven't twisted an ankle, have you?"

She didn't answer. She simply stared at him for a while. 

He sighed. There was no way around it, he would have to carry her. But, although Draco would think it strange later on, as he gathered her petite frame in his arms, the thought of levitating her with his wand had never even entered his mind.

Potter and Weasley would have a heart attack when they saw him carrying her back to her room in her flimsy little nightgown, and there would be hell to pay. Uncharacteristically, Draco ignored those Slytherin feelings of self-preservation, and focused instead on the feel of her in his arms.

"I love you..."

Her voice had been soft, reverent, yet its echoes seemed to thunder in Draco's soul. Or, it may have just been the answering, erratic beats of his heart. Either way, Draco froze. No one had ever said those words to him before.

"Hermione, you're drunk..." but his voice sounded unusually hoarse to his own ears.

In answer she placed a finger on his lips to silence him.

"I fell in love with you this summer. Those late nights when we argued Shakespeare by the fireplace... I've been meaning to tell you, but I never worked up the courage to, and if I don't tell you now I never will. I know you don't feel the same, but that's okay. I just wanted you to know..."

Draco didn't speak, didn't move, didn't even breathe until his chest painfully forced him to.

"Hermione..." he finally said, but he was too late. The brunette slept peacefully in his arms. 

Once again he continued his way up the stairs, his heart in turmoil.

.

"Harry? Ginny?"

Guiltily, Harry jumped away from Ginny, leaving both of them breathless in the wake of their kiss. 

Still, he couldn't help noticing the intertwined hands of Ron and Luna as they approached them.

"Are you feeling better Luna?" asked a flushed Ginny.

"Yes. I'm okay now."

Ron felt Luna letting go of his hand and the feeling of loss hit him so hard, it almost made him gasp.

"Is that, Malfoy... with Hermione...?"

At Ginny's hiss all of them turned to see Draco, with Hermione in his arms, walking up the stairs. The boys instantly pulled out their wands.

"What have you done to her, Malfoy?" demanded Ron.

"Shh, you'll wake her up," Draco hissed back in response.

The others simply stared in shock as Draco, walked past them into the girls' room. Narcissa and Molly were both asleep, each thankfully on a different bed. Draco headed towards the last bed and deposited Hermione gently on it. 

Hermione's friends looked on from the entrance of the room, with eyes wide, as Draco Malfoy, self-proclaimed arrogant bastard, Prince of Slytherin and hater of all muggleborns, tucked the bushy-haired Gryffindor gently in bed.

As noiselessly as he had entered, the blond boy exited, made his way past the still-shocked teenagers and walked thoughtfully to his room.

"Well, I'll be..." breathed Ron in surprise. 

His words seemed to break the spell.

"We better go too," whispered Luna to Ron, just as Ginny turned to Harry.

"See you tomorrow, Harry?" she asked smiling.

He made as if to lean in for a goodnight kiss before remembering that Ron was still standing there watching them, and stopped.

"Goodnight Ginny," he whispered.

"Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight Ron," said Luna her hand searching his.

He captured it and covered it with both his own for a while.

"Goodnight Luna."

The girls walked into the room and closed the door behind them, before Harry and Ron even thought about moving away.

"Err... Harry? Do you like my sister?"

Harry sighed. No matter how thick Ron could be in matters of the heart, it would have been inevitable for him not to notice Harry's behaviour tonight.

"Yeah, I do Ron. I really like her."

"Oh. I thought as much."

"Does it bother you?"

Ron seemed to hesitate for a bit, before grinning.

"She could do a lot worse mate."

Harry was relieved.

"Just don't... err... _do_ anything in front of me. You know, like, kiss and stuff..."

Ron seemed slightly green at the idea. Harry grinned and it was enough to give a Cheshire cat competition.

"We won't."

The two boys stayed in comfortable silence, for a while.

"You and Luna..."

Ron simply grinned sheepishly. Unknowingly, he perfectly resembled Luna's portrait of him.

"I thought so."

It was Ron who changed the subject.

"You don't think Malfoy and Hermione..."

Words failed him.

Harry placed an arm around Ron's shoulders.

"I say, we think about _that,_ tomorrow Ron."

Ron stifled a yawn.

"Sounds like a good idea mate."

"Bill!" hissed a female voice behind them.

Harry and Ron turned round in surprise, but when they saw a flushed, wild-haired and giggling Tonks chased by the infamous Bill Weasley, it was all they could do to control their own laughter.

Tonks finally spotted them still standing outside the door of the girls' room and stopped abruptly. Bill slammed into her and they both ended up in mound of flailing limbs on the floor.

A squeal of laughter escaped Tonks lips before Bill cramped a large hand over her mouth. Tears of mirth rolled down her cheeks as she tried to withhold her laughter. Bill was having trouble himself. Harry and Ron looked on in amusement.

Harry managed a dry cough before opening his mouth to speak.

"We're were just going to bed you two."

Harry elbowed Ron sharply, before his red-haired friend had a chance to put his foot in his mouth.

"Goodnight Bill, goodnight Tonks," he said, dragging Ron away. 

The couple on the floor still hadn't seem to notice.

It was Bill of course that managed to get a hold of himself first. Untangling himself from Tongs, he stood up before offering her his hand. She clasped it gratefully and hulled herself up.

"How about a goodnight kiss?" he offered.

In response, Tonks pulled him closer. He closed the distance between their lips.

"Goodnight," she whispered, before disappearing behind the door of the girls' room.

**..ooOOoo..**

**This One's for the Girls**

**..ooOOoo..**

This is for all you girls about 13  
High school can be so rough   
Can be so mean  
Hold onto, onto your innocence  
Stand your ground when everybody's giving in  
  
This one's for the girls!  
  
This is for all you girls about 25  
In little apartments just trying to get by  
Living on, on dreams and spaghettios  
Wondering where your life is gonna go  
  
This one's for the girls  
Who've ever had a broken heart  
Who've wished upon a shooting star  
You're beautiful the way you are  
This one's for the girls  
Who love without holding back  
Who dream with everything they have  
All around the world  
This one's for the girls  
  
This is for all you girls about 42  
Tossing pennies into the fountain of youth  
Every laugh, laugh line on your face  
Made you who you are today.   
  
This one's for the girls  
Who've ever had a broken heart  
Who've wished upon a shooting star  
You're beautiful the way you are  
This one's for the girls  
Who love without holding back  
Who dream with everything they have  
All around the world  
This one's for the girls  
  
Yeah we're all the same inside  
From 1 to 99  
  
This one's for the girls  
Who've ever had a broken heart  
Who've wished upon a shooting star  
You're beautiful the way you are  
This one's for the girls  
Who love without holding back  
Who dream with everything they have  
All around the world, yeah  
This one's for the girls  
  
Yeah, This one's for the girls


	3. Epilogue

**A/N: **I wasn't going to do this, but after several requests, here's a relatively short epilogue for you guys. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. It's good to feel appreciated.

**Epilogue**

Hermione opened one eye. She promptly closed it again. 

Not prepared for the wave of intense dizziness and pain that washed over her, a groan escaped from her lips. Her head felt as if the beaters of the England Quidditch team had taken residence in it and were having one of their most vigorous practices.

Someone shifted in the bed next to her. Another moan sounded from the end of her bed. One by one, the girls stirred.

.

"Are the toasts ready, Harry?" asked Bill.

"Almost. I'm putting the last ones in."

"Ron? How's the orange juice coming?"

"I'm squeezing, I'm squeezing!" he said with a twinge of annoyance. His wrist was hurting. "These things take time!"

Bill flipped just one more pancake. Draco watched with barely concealed admiration as the pancake landed perfectly back in the pan.

"Water's boiled, Malfoy," said Ron over the shrill whistle of the kettle behind Draco.

Draco scowled and turned back to the assorted teacups and coffee mugs.

"Table's set!" announced Neville cheerfully.

"And the pancakes are almost ready," added Bill.

The boys stopped talking when a loud clatter sounded in the living room. Bill placed the last pancake on top of the others, wiped his hands on the kitchen towel next to him, and rushed to the living room to see what the noise was about. The others looked at each other for a moment before following him out.

The spectacle they saw was enough to make even Draco chuckle. Tonks could be seen sprawled out in an ungraceful heap at the bottom of the staircase. From the looks of things, she seemed to have fallen down the stairs.

"Tonks...?" asked Bill as he hurried to her side.

A muffled groan could be heard from what, with a little imagination, could be called Tonks.

Bill helped her to her feet for the third time in the last twenty four hours.

"Mmm," she managed even as she leaned against him. "My hangover's not that bad, but that little roll down the stairs didn't help," she grumbled.

Bill helped her to the kitchen as the rest of the boys looked on with amusement.

"What's that smell?"

"We made you girls breakfast," he answered her proudly. She gave him a rather weak smile.

"Glad to see the house is still standing..."

"You're one to talk."

He settled her down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Coffee...?" she asked hopefully.

He shook his head.

"The hangover potion needs to be taken on an empty stomach. Snape's gone to make some."

Tonks visibly brightened up at this.

"The others were just about waking up when I left, but they were in a much worse state than I was. Maybe someone should go up to help them downstairs...?"

The boys looked at each other briefly, before rushing out of the kitchen. Only Bill and Neville hang back.

"You do realise this is all, your fault," Bill told her with an amused smile on his face.

"How was I to know that none of them could handle a little drink?"

Bill smirked at her understatement.

"Neville will you look after Harry's toasts? There's nothing worse than the smell of burnt toast and I've got a hangover mother to help upstairs."

Neville nodded and Bill left with a smile.

.

"Ginny...?"

"Mmm...?"

"Remind me never to drink anything Tonks gives me ever again."

"Only if you return the favour Mione."

"Speaking of Tonks, where is she?" asked Molly.

"Not so loud, Molly!" groaned Narcissa's voice from under a pillow.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Luna...?" groaned Ginny as she turned on her side.

"Hrmff?"

"Your feet are in my face."

Luna seemed to have fallen out of her sleeping bag sometime during the night. She now lay sprawled, half on top of the aforementioned sleeping bag, half on the floor. And indeed, her feet, left foot encased in bright orange sock, right foot in bright blue, lay in front of Ginny Weasley's face.

Luna moved them reluctantly.

"So that's what a hangover's like," grumbled Hermione, "I wish I didn't know."

And that's when the girls' world exploded in bright light.

"Grmmf!"

"Eeck!"

"Brmfg!"

"For Merlin's sake, close the sodding light, Ron!" called Ginny's voice even as she buried her face under the covers of her sleeping bag.

"Good morning!" called Harry cheerfully, ignoring their moans and groans.

"If you don't close the light right now Harry Potter," threatened Hermione under her own covers, "you'll be the boy-who-died-a-very-painful-death!"

The boys looked on in amusement at the sprawled limbs, the empty bottles, the scattered clothes and chocolate wrappers. There were chocolate chip cookies everywhere.

"Rise and shine!" called Ron grinning.

No one answered him as the girls worked furiously at ignoring them.

Draco hurried by his mother's side.

"Mother? Are you under there?"

A pale, elegant hand protruding from the pile of covers and pillows hang limp to indicate that Narcissa Malfoy was indeed somewhere under the pile.

Draco's lips twitched as he fought to suppress a smile. He had never seen his mother act like she had last night. She seemed to have enjoyed herself, something that Draco didn't remember her doing often. He was glad. She had been infinitely strong for him during the recent dramatic changes in their lives and if anyone deserved a little fun, it was her, he decided.

"Go away Draco," she mumbled, "Mummy's not feeling well."

He couldn't prevent himself from sniggering.

"Come on ladies, we need to get you downstairs. Professor Snape has made a hangover potion for all of you, and the rest of us made breakfast. The sooner you get downstairs, the sooner you get rid of your hangover," Bill Weasley said from the open door.

At the prospect of getting rid of their hangover, the girls seemed slightly more enthusiastic about getting out of bed. 

Ginny's head emerged out of her cocoon-like covers. Harry had to stifle a laugh as he spied a sugar quill wrapper stuck on her forehead. He helped her up and unstuck the wrapper from her face with a grin.

Ron rushed to Luna as Bill moved towards their mother.

"Mum? Are you ok?"

"Help your mother up will you Bill?"

Bill dragged the considerable bulk that was Mrs Weasley, out of bed, and steadied her gently.

"Luna?" Ron's arm found itself, once again, wound protectively around the blonde girl's waist.

She smiled gratefully at him for his support.

Draco stood between the two beds that held his mother and Hermione, looking from one to the other.

"Ooomf!" groaned Hermione landing painfully on her backside.

Draco rushed to her side. It was quite funny really to watch Hermione roll off her bed and onto the floor, but he didn't dare laugh.

"I hate hangovers," she muttered and he chuckled. 

Draco once again looked between his mother's hand protruding from the covers and the girl on the carpet, not knowing who to help first.

"I'll take your mother, Draco," Professor Snape answered his thoughts. His robes billowed about him as he swept over to Narcissa's side. "Please help Miss Granger downstairs."

Draco didn't need to be told twice. He put his arms around the petite brunette and raised her to her feet.

"Thank you, Dr-Malfoy," she said shakily.

It was a small slip, but Draco had caught it. He led them to the top of the staircase.

"I'd much rather you call me Draco," he said without looking at her. 

He said it as if it meant nothing to him, but his heart ached to hear her have his name roll off her tongue the way it had last night.

She looked at him strangely.

"Only if you call me Hermione, Draco," she said, testing out the sound of his name on her lips. She liked it, she realised.

"Of course, Hermione."

"Narcissa?" asked Professor Snape back in the room, his voice sounding softer, kinder than normal.

"My head hurts, Severus," she moaned.

"I know it does Narcissa. I made a potion to make you feel better again," he said as if he were speaking to a small child, "you are going to have to go to the kitchen to take it though."

A head popped out of the covers tentatively. Narcissa's usually immaculate, golden tresses were tussled from sleep.

"Help me...?" she enquired.

"Of course."

.

The girls staggered into the kitchen to find Tonks grinning insanely at them.

"Good morning," she said. "Had a good time?"

"Tonks," Ginny threatened, "I've got a good mind to kill you when I can raise my arms high enough to put them around your neck. Don't tempt me!"

"Where's this hangover potion then?" asked Molly, hanging on her eldest son's arm as if her life depended on it.

"Here you go Mrs W," said Tonks passing out glasses of a red liquid.

"Yuck! What is this stuff," said Ginny making a face at the taste.

"It's not entirely unpleasant, just... strange," Hermione felt obliged to say.

"Mmm," said Molly thoughtfully, "Tomato juice, egg, pepper, Tabasco..."

"Trust me mum," interrupted Bill, "it's been tried and tested. It works."

And it did to the immense pleasure and relief of all the girls.

"Wow, this stuff's great!" enthused Ginny when she finished her drink. "My headache's gone!"

"Good riddance!" commented Hermione. "Now will someone please pass the coffee?"

"Mmm, who made the pancakes?" asked Tonks.

"I did," said Bill as he sat in the chair next to her.

"You can cook, too?"

"Can't everyone?" he teased.

"I boiled an egg until it blew up, once," confessed Tonks.

Harry spat his orange juice all over Ginny.

"Harry!"

"Sorry Gin."

Everyone else stared at Tonks.

"How could you possibly do that, dear?" asked Molly in amazement.

Tonks seemed slightly embarrassed at her admission.

"I wasn't sure how long I was supposed to boil it for, so I boiled it for twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes!" Molly gasped.

Bill laughed.

"I guess somewhere along the line, the water must have boiled off and I didn't realise it until the egg blew up."

By this time, everyone was laughing.

"What?! It could happen to anyone!!" Tonks insisted, but no one seemed to believe her.

Harry watched Ginny laughing. Her hair cascaded around her like a fiery waterfall and her shoulders shook with mirth at the thought of Tonks' boiled egg failure. On impulse, Harry placed his hand over hers on the table. Her laughter quietened down and she looked at him with sparkling eyes. She smiled and he smiled back. His friends laughing around him, Ginny's small hand in his own, Harry never felt happier!

"Ron?"

"Yes Luna?"

"There's something I'd like to show you..."

He looked at her.

"Now?"

She nodded. He got up and offered her a hand which she took to raise herself back on her feet. 

.

She led him to the drawing room and handed him the all-too-familiar blue sketch pad. 

Ron's heart beat faster and faster as he raised the cover to look upon the by-now familiar sketches inside. He said nothing and neither did she. A picture was worth a thousand words after all...

Ron finally turned the last page over to reveal a sketch of himself. It was new and he hadn't seen it before. He was speechless.

"Do you like it?" Luna asked anxiously.

"Luna! It's wonderful! I don't know what to say..."

"I finished it yesterday. Before the slumber party. I want you to have it. For everything you did for me last night."

She looked down shyly.

Ron rose from the armchair where he had sat to look at her sketches. Her armchair. He raised her face with two fingers placed gently under her chin, to look into her eyes.

"Thank you," he said before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

.

"Good morning."

Heads turned to see Professor Albus Dumbledore at the door of the kitchen. Unusually, he had stayed at No.12 Grimmauld place last night. A chorus of good mornings greeted him, but everyone couldn't help noticing how pale the headmaster looked.

"Are you feeling alright, Albus?" enquired Professor Snape. 

The elder man nodded, but there was a distinct lack of a twinkle in his blue eyes. Mrs Weasley helped him to a chair.

"Can I get you something Albus? The boys made breakfast. Some pancakes, toast perhaps?"

"No thank you, Molly. It's very kind of you all, but I think I may have eaten something last night that did not agree with me."

The boys barely managed to suppress their laughter as the girls looked on curiously.

"A cup of tea, then," said Molly determinedly taking one look at the way Dumbledore seemed to be clutching his stomach.

Hermione placed her hand on Draco's arm. His grey eyes, shining with merriment, looked into her own. 

"Can I talk to you outside for a minute Draco?"

He seemed puzzled by her request, but when she rose from the table, he followed her out of the kitchen. She led him to the dining room.

.

"I... wanted to thank you for last night. You didn't have to take care of me and I really appreciate it."

"There's no need to thank me Hermione. It was... I'm glad I could help."

_Could this possibly get any more awkward?_ thought Hermione.

"Listen Draco, last night I remember saying some things..." she couldn't even look him in the eye, and she was at a loss on how to continue.

_Well, what do you know? It **can** get more awkward._

"Did you mean what you said?" he asked her.

She raised her head to find that he had moved closer to her. She found herself looking deeply into his grey eyes. She felt heat rising to her cheeks and lowered her eyes once again.

"Since you came here," she started, hoping to explain, "I don't... I stopped hating you. You're still the same arrogant bastard you always were, of course..." she added quickly.

_Way to go Hermione!_ She berated herself. _That's a great way to apologise! Why did I even just say that?_

But Draco didn't seem angry. Quite the contrary actually. He seemed amused.

"Of course," he agreed, taking another step closer.

"But, I-I... well, after all the time you and I spent talking in the library this summer, I was hoping that we... we could become friends," she finally said.

"Just friends?"

Hermione blushed furiously. Her eyes were still trained firmly on the ground, but she could hear him approaching. Her heart beat faster and faster and she felt all hot and bothered at the very idea of him coming even closer.

"Hermione, last night you said you loved me!" he said triumphantly.

She felt her temper rising, fuelled by her embarrassment.

"Last night I was drunk!" she countered, finally raising her eyes to his, in anger.

It was a mistake. She knew it was a mistake the moment she did it. A feral smile graced his pale features, a mischievous glint in his eyes. They were face to face now.

"Admit it Granger. You want me!"

She raised a hand to slap him but he grabbed her wrist in mid-air interrupting its downward arc.

"Almost as much as I want you," he said crushing her lips with his own, sealing both their fates.

And Hermione thought no more.

.

The head of Arthur Weasley appeared from the fireplace. Arthur walked into the kitchen and brushed the soot off his crumpled clothes. He had spent the last day and night on Order business and felt even more tired than he looked.

His smiling wife walked towards him slowly. She seemed younger and more relaxed than she had for a long time.

"Hello dear," she said kissing him lightly on the cheek, "want some breakfast?"

Arthur nodded and looked around him in the kitchen. Bill and Tonks were laughing quietly in a corner on their own. Ron had one arm around Luna's waist using only one hand to eat his breakfast, where it usually took two. Harry and Ginny were holding hands while a flushed Hermione and a _smiling_ Draco exchanged warm looks. The usually austere Severus Snape and the cold Narcissa Malfoy seemed to look on at the young couples around them benignly. A last glance revealed a rather sick looking Albus Dumbledore.

"Did anything happen while I was away?" he asked.

Molly sent him an unreadable look.

"No. Nothing at all."

.

_This one's for the girls..._

.

**A/N:** I'd just like to say that Tonks' boiled egg experience happened to one of my friends. I couldn't believe how someone could botch up boiling an egg! I didn't think it was possible, but apparently it is.

Okay, now this really _is_ the end of the story. To those of you who suggested I do a companion piece for the boys, it's not a bad idea and I'm considering it. Thing is, I'm not so sure what a boy's night would involve. I was thinking maybe poker night? Or perhaps they can go out. To a bar? A strip club? It'd have to be a special occasion for them to be allowed out and I have a feeling Bill should arrange it. What do you think? Should I even attempt a sequel at all, or would that be overkill?


End file.
